Category Archives: China

PACOM CO Harris: No Anticipated Changes to U.S.-Philippines Military Relationship

PACOM CO Harris: No Anticipated Changes to U.S.-Philippines Military Relationship

U.S. Pacific Command commander Adm. Harry Harris on Feb. 25, 2016 addressing reporters in the Pentagon. DoD News Image

U.S. Pacific Command commander Adm. Harry Harris on Feb. 25, 2016 addressing reporters in the Pentagon. DoD News Image

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The head of U.S. forces in the Pacific has not received any official word from Manila to change its defense relationship with the Philippines – despite months of statements to the contrary from firebrand President Rodrigo Duterte. Read More

Randy Forbes is the Favorite for Trump's Secretary of the Navy

Randy Forbes is the Favorite for Trump’s Secretary of the Navy

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks with Randy Forbes in Forbes' office on June 13, 2013. Forbes is the likely pick for a Trump administration Secretary of the Navy. US Navy Photos

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks with Randy Forbes in Forbes’ office on June 13, 2013. Forbes is the likely pick for a Trump administration Secretary of the Navy. US Navy Photos

THE PENTAGON — An advocate for a 350-ship Navy and $20-billion annual shipbuilding budgets and a vocal opponent of Chinese aggression in the Western Pacific will likely be the pick for the next Secretary of the Navy in a Donald Trump Administration, USNI News has learned. Read More

Officials: Third Offset Strategy Key to Maintaining U.S. Military Technology Dominance

Officials: Third Offset Strategy Key to Maintaining U.S. Military Technology Dominance

Aircraft CF-02, an F-35 Lightning II Carrier Variant attached to the F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 completes a flyover of the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000). US Navy Photo

Aircraft CF-02, an F-35 Lightning II Carrier Variant attached to the F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 completes a flyover of the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000). US Navy Photo

The driving concept behind the Pentagon’s Third Offset Strategy comes down to : If we’re not changing, we’re losing to “pacing competitors” like Russia and China in conventional warfare. Read More

Admiral: Attacks Like Those on USS Mason Will Become More Common

Admiral: Attacks Like Those on USS Mason Will Become More Common

USS Mason (DDG-87) pulls into the Port of Djibouti escorted by Coastal Riverine Squadron 8 Sea Ark patrol boats on July 23, 2016. US Navy Photo

USS Mason (DDG-87) pulls into the Port of Djibouti escorted by Coastal Riverine Squadron 8 Sea Ark patrol boats on July 23, 2016. US Navy Photo

The Navy should prepare for a future operating environment where anti-ship weapons propagate globally and attacks such as the recent ones against guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG-87) are more commonplace, one the service’s top budget officials said. Read More

Opinion: The Danger of Connecting Iran Nuclear Deal with Attacks on U.S. Warships

Opinion: The Danger of Connecting Iran Nuclear Deal with Attacks on U.S. Warships

USS Mason (DDG-87) fires an SM-2 during a March 2016 exercise. US Navy Image

USS Mason (DDG-87) fires an SM-2 during a March 2016 exercise. US Navy Image

This is the first of two opinion pieces examining the Iran nuclear deal and the recent attacks in Yemen.

The recent spate of Yemeni Houthi rebel anti-ship missile attacks in the strategically important littorals near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, have drawn America’s attention to Yemen’s bitter civil war. Read More

Analysis: Chinese South China Sea Operations Ambiguous After Ruling

Analysis: Chinese South China Sea Operations Ambiguous After Ruling

China’s compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) tribunal’s ruling regarding rights, activities and entitlements in the South China Sea is much less certain than one might expect, we concluded in a previous post at Lawfare. By our analysis, there are no reports that China has taken actions in clear violation of nine of fifteen rulings handed down by the tribunal. Therefore, while China is not in “compliance” with the arbitral award, neither is it in complete “non-compliance.” Read More

Updated: USS Nitze Destroys 3 Houthi Controlled Radar Sites in Retaliatory Strike

Updated: USS Nitze Destroys 3 Houthi Controlled Radar Sites in Retaliatory Strike

A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile Launched from USS Nitze late Wednesday night. US Navy Image

A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile Launched from USS Nitze late Wednesday night. US Navy Image

This post has been updated with additional comments from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson.

A Navy guided missile destroyer launched an attack against three radar sites in Yemen with Tomahawk cruise missiles in response to recent attacks on U.S. ships in the region, the Pentagon announced late Wednesday. Read More